


divine beast vah ruta (understanding)

by michpat6



Series: aftermath [21]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/M, did not want it to drag on this long but oh well the fic calls for it, i promise we're getting out of zora's domain soon, is this a good chapter? who cares all I know is character dynamics and plot, link and fi have their first conversation, what is with me and the parentheses in the titles lately, zelda and sidon are my new favorite duo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29467224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/michpat6/pseuds/michpat6
Summary: Sidon is standing before Ruta, his hands on his hips as he stares up at the Divine Beast, which is kneeling in the pond with its trunk slumped in the water, deactivated. When he sees Link approaching, he grins.“Good morning, Link!” he greets. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”Link glances to the gloomy sky. “If you say so. Where’s Zelda?”“Up here!”He looks towards the sound of her voice and almost has a heart attack.
Relationships: Link & Fi, Link & Prince Sidon, Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Zelda & Prince Sidon
Series: aftermath [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2033743
Comments: 8
Kudos: 66





	divine beast vah ruta (understanding)

Link wakes to an empty room.

He sits up, yawning and rubbing at his eyes, when he spots a slip of paper stuck to the Master Sword.

Snagging it, he sees that it’s a note in Zelda’s handwriting.

_Getting an early start at Ruta with Sidon and the Sheikah Slate,_ It reads. _Didn’t want to wake you._

_Good morning, Master_ , The Master Sword chirps. _It’s almost eight in the morning._

Link frowns. How early of a start was Zelda talking about?

The spot next to him is cold. _He’s_ cold. It makes his entire body ache, old, wrongly-healed injuries making themselves known again.

The previously broken arm he set with a tree branch after falling off the Great Plateau Tower hurts as he digs through their bag of “stuff” for a change in underwear, as does his previously shattered ankle from an awkward landing the first time he used the paraglider when he gets fully dressed and steps into his boots.

His hands ache as he pulls on his fingerless gloves and he winces, hissing as the gritty material rubs his scarred palms.

(The cold has always exacerbated the old burns pulling the Master Sword left him with.)

Most of the time, he forgets the burns are there, or that he even has any at all. The healed wounds engraved into his skin are so familiar, his eyes skip over them with no issue.

He assumes Zelda knows about them because she has yet to comment on or look at them and all he’s done is find ways to touch her, but it’s not like her to not ask questions.

(He wonders why she hasn’t acknowledged them yet. If she had burns on her palms in the shape of the Master Sword’s grip, he’d want to know everything.)

On his hike to the mountain where Ruta stands, the Master Sword talks to him.

_Master,_ It starts. _There is a 98% chance Prince Sidon will have made amends with Zelda. It is highly unlikely you will have to ask him about why he fears her._

“Okay,” he says after a minute, still feeling weird about talking to his sword. The sky is cloudy and the air smells like rain, and he’s expecting it to start pouring any minute, picking up his pace and doing his best to ignore the throbbing in his ankle. “But I still want to know why everyone else is afraid of her.”

_Would you like me to calculate the different possibilities?_

“Um…” It can do that? “Sure?”

_Give me a moment, Master._

Before he can even take his next breath, the voice in the Master Sword returns with, _There is a 15% chance it is because she, as they believe, sent Princess Mipha to her death. There is a 15% chance it is because she held back the Calamity for a century and came out physically unscathed. There is a 70% chance it is because she possesses the blood of my creator, the Goddess Hylia._

(That answers _that_ question.)

“Okay,” he repeats. “Why would the fact that she has Hylia’s blood make them afraid? They weren’t afraid of her a century ago, right?”

_Correct, Master._

“So they’re afraid of her because she has Hylia’s blood, which they think allowed her to be able to send Mipha to her death and hold back the Calamity?”

_Correct, Master, so as it turns out all three possibilities came to pass._ Then, after another beat of silence, it adds, _The Zora are not wrong._

Link frowns. “You think Zelda sent Mipha to her death?”

_It is an undeniable fact that Zelda was in charge of the Champions, that under the protocol she created the Champions were meant to go straight to their Divine Beasts in the event of the Calamity striking, and that by following that protocol, Mipha of the Zora died._

“But it’s not like Zelda _knew_ the Blights would corrupt the Divine Beasts! It’s not like she sent Mipha and the others off _expecting_ them to die!”

_I never said that, Master. All I am doing is stating the facts._

“Your facts are biased.”

_I was created to be neutral in all things except combat._

He remembers the insult it gave to the Zora guards after they made Zelda uncomfortable. “That’s not true. What about when you called those Zora stupid?”

_That was…_ The voice trails off. _A lapse. Do not worry, Master, I will make sure it never happens again._

“No, wait, don’t do that. I thought it was funny.”

_You did?_

“Kind of, yeah. It was nice discovering that you have a personality. I think it would make it harder for me if you didn’t.”

_Harder for you, Master? In what sense?_

(It doesn’t know? It can read his mind and not know how deep down it irks him that he can hear it? That after all of this time he’s spent being the Hero, after he’s finally completed his sacred task, that he’s still not done?)

_Oh,_ It says, and is it possible for the voice in his head to get quieter? _I see._

(Shit. Is it possible for the voice in his head to get insulted?)

He stops at the base of the mountain. Distantly, he can hear Sidon’s voice but can’t make out the words he’s saying.

(He wonders how Sidon got up there. Zelda can warp with the slate, and Link can just scale the mountain…Is it possible for Zora to climb mountains?)

“Morning, Link!” The answer to his question comes in the form of a wooden crate attached to a thick rope lowering to the grass before him. A red Zora-Their name is…Kado? Kita? Kade? -is standing in the crate and gripping the rope tightly in both hands. “Going up?”

“Yes,” he answers. “What is that?”

“It’s a giant pulley!” The red Zora whose name definitely starts with a ‘K’ says. “We use it to get up to Ruta ‘cause there’re no roads or waterfalls! Come on in, I’ll show you how it works!”

Link steps into the box, and instead of listening to the Zora explain the pulley, he tries his best to remember their name.

(Kyle? Is it Kyle? No, that doesn’t sound right.)

_Kodah, Master,_ The Master Sword supplies. _His name is Kodah._

(Is it possible for the voice in his head to laugh at him? Because it sounds _very_ amused.)

The pulley reaches the top of the mountain, and Kodah says, “Here we are!”

“Thanks,” Link says, vaulting over the edge of the crate and softly cursing at the pain that shoots from his palms to his fingertips.

(Why are the scars bothering him so much today? It’s not like they’re in Hebra. _That_ would hurt.)

Sidon is standing before Ruta, his hands on his hips as he stares up at the Divine Beast, which is kneeling in the pond with its trunk slumped in the water, deactivated. When he sees Link approaching, he grins.

“Good morning, Link!” he greets. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

Link glances to the gloomy sky. “If you say so. Where’s Zelda?”

“Up here!”

He looks towards the sound of her voice and almost has a heart attack.

Zelda is standing on a platform over one of Ruta’s bent legs, at least thirty feet in the air. Her hair is tied back and she’s waving at him, smiling wide like she’s _not_ doing something totally dangerous.

(One wrong step and she plummets into the shallow pond, bound to break at least both of her legs and an arm if she’s lucky. If she’s not, if she trips over the edge, Hylia forbid…)

“Not to worry, Link,” Sidon says out of the side of his mouth. “I’ve been keeping an eye on her footing, and I am prepared to jump very high if she falls.”

“Thanks, Sidon,” Link breathes, forcing himself to smile and wave back. He calls to her, “How did you climb up there?”

She shows him the slate. “Carefully placed Cryonis!”

“Ruta let you climb on no problem?”

“Yep!” her smile widens, green eyes glittering. “I think it’s because I have the slate!”

(Oh, Goddesses. Even from this far away, he can see the dark circles. Come to think of it, there are dark circles under Sidon’s eyes, too.)

“Sidon?” Link asks, watching Zelda turn her back and tap at the slate.

“Yes, Link?”

“When she left me a note saying you guys got an early start here, what time was it?”

“Around two in the morning, Link, why?”

He looks at the Zora prince. “Did either of you sleep at all between then and now?”

Sidon turns his head and meets his eyes. “No.”

“So she’s been crawling around Ruta for almost six hours?”

“Trying to find a way inside, yes, and I was helping. We did take an hour break for food, and then Kodah arrived to man the pulley so I decided to keep him company down here.”

“That’s…still five hours of this, Sidon.”

“Yes it is, Link.”

Link continues to stare. “You don’t see an issue with that?”

“Not at all. Why would I stop someone from doing something that makes them happy?”

(Great. Now he’s gotta be the bad guy that keeps Zelda from true happiness because she gets too invested in ancient technology and forgets to sleep.)

That’s when she shouts. Ruta hums and lights up, glowing orange.

“ _Zelda_!” Link screams her name. He and Sidon sprint towards the Divine Beast and his ankle feels like its about to give out- “ _Zelda_!”

She pops back out on the leg platform, holding the Sheikah Slate aloft.

“I found the entrance!” she cheers, voice echoing. “We can get inside and figure out what’s wrong!”

“ _Yes_!” Sidon yells, throwing his arms into the air. “Well done, Princess!”

Panting, heart pounding in his chest, Link can’t help but laugh.

(Goddesses, he loves her.)

A Cryonis block rises from the pond.

“Come on!” she says.

The inside of Vah Ruta is largely unchanged from when Link was last here, the only difference being the lack of malice.

“Wow,” Sidon says, looking around. “I’ve never been in here, before.”

He’s too distracted taking in the sight of the interior to notice when Zelda walks over and grabs Link’s hand, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.

“Hi,” she says.

“Hi,” he checks her over. “Do you feel tired?”

“No. I’m fine, really.”

“You and Sidon are…a _lot_ closer than you were yesterday.”

She nods. “We talked in front of Mipha’s statue for a while last night. I know why the Zora are afraid of me, he knows I’m not going to try and murder his people, and we came to an understanding of sorts. Then we decided to come to Ruta, and talked some more. He’s as optimistic as you said, has a bright side for everything.”

Link smiles. “That’s what he does.”

(He holds himself back from asking about the whole ‘He knows I’m not going to try and murder his people’ thing. This is the most upbeat she’s been since they arrived yesterday, and besides the fact that it’s most likely a combination of sleep deprivation and her easy access to the Divine Beast, he doesn’t want to ruin it yet.)

“Where did Mipha pilot it from?” Sidon asks, grabbing their attention. “I don’t see reins or a control panel.”

“In here,” Zelda leads them into the room with the control terminal Water Blight Ganon spawned from. The thin layer of water on the floor ripples with their every step. “She connected to its…Well, not its _mind_ , but its…Oh, Goddesses, how do I explain this-”

“Let’s just go with its mind,” Link offers.

“Sure,” Zelda nods. “She connected to its ‘mind’ through the use of the slate to, ah, interface herself with it, I suppose, and then all she had to do was think of a command for Ruta to obey.”

The closer they get to the control terminal, the faster Link’s heart pounds.

(For him, Waterblight was a long yet simple kill. He still wonders _why_ it was so easy for him when it all but slaughtered Mipha. It’s not like he was a much better fighter than her, or that she lacked a certain skill, he thinks he just…got lucky. Maybe Waterblight let its guard down and held back _because_ it killed Mipha. Maybe it was confident that there would be no match for her to take it on and hope to win.)

Zelda is still telling Sidon all about the inner workings of Ruta, chattering away while the Zora prince asks questions, which only spurs her on.

(If the Blights _were_ holding back with him, he has a hell of a lot more respect for Urbosa for almost beating Thunderblight.)

It’s why when the control terminal glows a dim orange, Link draws the Master Sword and steps in front of Sidon and Zelda.

“Get back!” he orders. Are his hands shaking? Why do they hurt so much?

“What’s wrong?” Zelda asks. “What is it?”

“The control terminal. It looked like that before Water Blight appeared and tried to kill me.”

“But Waterblight is dead,” Sidon says. “The _Calamity_ is dead. Why would it still be here?”

“I don’t know, but-”

“It’s not a Blight,” Zelda cuts him off, staring at the Sheikah Slate and stepping up next to him. “Link, look.”

The Master Sword trembling in his hand, he looks down at the Sheikah Slate.

The screen shows a diagram of Ruta, the same one it showed him while he was activating all of the terminals. The main one, the one they’re in front of, is labeled with a big orange dot like it was before. Zelda taps the dot, and a diagram of the terminal and a mess of numbers pops up on the screen.

“Look,” she repeats, pointing to a zero in the corner of the screen. “This is the readings for malice. It’s not a Blight.”

“Then…” Link sheathes the Master Sword, eyeing the glowing terminal. “Then what’s wrong with it?”

“That’s impossible,” she whispers, tapping the screen again. Some numbers are highlighted. “The numbers were like this before Mipha linked with her.”

“So?”

“So that means Ruta’s reverted to her base functions of protecting her interior from intruders,” Zelda’s talking fast, caught up in her own realization. “She only let us in because of the slate, which I guess acted as a sort of key?” she mutters to herself before continuing, “Without a pilot, there’s no way any Zora are getting in here without Sheikah Slates of their own, and there’s no way Ruta will protect the Domain.”

“How do we interface a pilot?” Sidon quietly asks, staring at the terminal.

“You have to pass a series of tests, first,” Zelda answers, focused on whatever she sees on the slate. “Make sure you can handle the strain of being connected with something so large and powerful. Then you wait to see if Ruta accepts you.”

Sidon is still staring at the terminal.

“We should go to my father with this information,” he says. “It gives us the solution to our problem and gives you your alliance, Princess Zelda.”

_Master,_ The Master Sword whispers. _There is a 100% chance Sidon of the Zora wants to become his sister’s successor._

**Author's Note:**

> don’t mind me being a bad writer and sloppily throwing in the fact that link’s hands are burned from the master sword, something that has never once come up in previous chapters, because i came up with it today while writing a sad chunk of the pre-calamity fic and it’ll all come together when that drops dhdkfhskfhsnsb im so sorry its all for the sake of continuity
> 
> also zelda and sidon as a chaotic duo after pulling an all-nighter and bonding over their mipha trauma is not something I expected to write but it made me laugh so here we are


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